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(No Modeln l T L.v BWALKINS. THIRD RAILYUNDBRGROUND ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM. No. 605,066.-

yPatented May y31, .1898,

T0 all tchom it concern:

PATENT OFFICE# g HALF 'ro FaANcKE DIcKINsoN, 0F SAME PLACE- L 'THIRD-RAIL UN Beneficio-ND ELec-TRie-RAILWAY SYSTEM.

sPEcrFrcA'rIoN'rormingvparttrLetteisraten'crro.605,063,datea'maye1,1s9s.\

" Apuaaminea rigpstzrisev. sernirnsiaocs. (No 1119.181.)

-113e itknown' thatl, Lotus EWAnKiNs, a

` citizen of the United States, and aresident ofA Springfield, :in theV county .of Hampden and,

f e 5 VState of Massachusetts?, have invented certain new and usefulllmprovements in Third-Rail.-

`Underground Electric-Railway iystems,l of which the following is a specification.V r e This invention relates to'whatmaybe charing and linsulating meansfor the third rail and 'other andfurther devices,'all substan'r tiall'y'as will hereinafter fully appear, and'be setforth'intheclaims Figureflis 'arcross-sectionah view of the" 'railway;inclusive' of V'the underground third rail Aand its inclosimgy conduit and the supporting land insulating means therefor, f -Fi 2 is a plan view of thesame. Fig. 3 i's across Similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in'all of the views.

y J-In the drawings, A represents the road-bed of 'a railway; 13 B being the usual car-track,

i rails, andA Crepresents the central longitudinally-running top-slotted underground conf v ownwardly'an'd outwardly'inclined,whereby sectional view substantially like Ffigfl, but i" 4"terva-ls, and vD represents the third rail lo? above the bottomab thereof.

mately that form, and comprises the outer section dof ghardcementand an inner section f of an :insulating material hard in its-nature and alsoa godinsulator, whichclosely ad'-v of the trough sides,1as seen at 10 10, are downwardly and outwardly beveled. There is a illing'n of cement or concrete ,placed in'the trough i and 'covering the .oba'se' .and neck of the'rail D and extending up under the tread portion thereof, and, asV seen in the cross-sectional view, the outer` sides of this cement illing, as well 'as the'edges of the trough, are' lawatersh'ec'i .is cOnSti'tuteda-nd a provision also for the falling away from thethird-railpassage, such as indicated bythe dotted lines fm.' 'i v InFig. 3 substantially thes'ame equipments are. illustrated as in Fig. I, with the exception -that two llongitudinallyrunning current-con.- 4ducting rails areA shown instead of one, together Withthe corresponding troughs and cement or concrete-Hank bases-for therails.' In Figs. lland 5 I have illustrated'an improved shoe or depending-trolley for contact Loi-nsf E. WALK-ins, or SPRINGFIELD,jMAssAcHUsErTsAssiettes or ourcated Within the conduit, the same being supported below the `slot or mouth a thereof and i 55 The conduit,- as shown, isval, or approxi- 1o 'acterizedasathird-rail'underground electrici heres to and-isasone with the outer cementl railway system," the' object of the invention vcondui't-s'ectinfL- .1 The lining portion fof ine being to'support'thethirdrail-used asa consulating 'material may be composed of a mixductorfor theinotor-'current within an'under- 'tue of sawdust, comminuted rock, anda u ground/top-slotted conduit, all in'such ina'nbinder, solidified-while in a plastic condition 65 x5 ner that therail `is readily accessible to be by'hydraul'Rlll-re. This material init-E reached and contacted upon by thetrolleyA or "slfaI do not claim.' 4The conduit has midway".

shoe of andv depending below the motor-car "-between'itsb'ase and top, at opposite sides, the and that the rail is stably and iirmly supportrests,- sockets,'or ledges g g, on which are sup'- ed and perfectly insulated, sothat the railis., ported the transverse tiesh,of wood-, prefer-v 7o` '2d maintainedawa'y from any water accumula-3A ably. lfOn these tiesis supported the longitutions "in the conduit and sothat the insul'atdinallyrunning trough 1l, lwhich has, prefere 'fingm'at'erial for'the rail constitutes ashed for V- ably, la' lining j of mica. The conductor-rail any water which mayy enter the conduit.- D is moul'igtedvith lits bas in this trough fi, Thelinvention' consists inthe combination, its tread portion 4being somewhat above the 7-5 Vz5 with the'underground conduit, o'f the support-V top edges of the trough sides.- l The top-edges conductor' of rany dirt or other substances.\ This conduit, aslusual .in underground conduits, i-s providedwith an outletjor drainage 9o loof,

5o duit, supported in va.usualmann'er in the'cas'to n. the', underground third rail` c0ndu'cto'r,. iron 'yokefframes' E, providedat suitable in@ which embodies features of improvement and v` l Y v advantage in that the shoe which receives the i current from the rail or conveys the current the'more direct connection of the currentwires with the shoe than has heretofore been practiced where the current had connection with the shoe through the supporting-arms for the latter, and, referring to the drawings, Figs. tand 5,' 2O 20 representthe supportingarrns, understood as having supporting connections with the motor car or truck and having pivoted thereto and between their depending ends at 22 22 the carrier-plate or shoeholder 23, the shoe 24: being yieldingly supported by'and suspended through said plate. The shoe has the upstauding squared shank 25, which passes through a squared aperture therefor in the carrier-plate 23, and said shank is further upwardly continued in the stem 25.

-The holderplate has the pillars 26 26, supporting the top plate 27 abovethe carrierplate 23, through which the stem 25, extended above the shoe, has asliding fit. The spring 29 isunder pressure between the -top plate 27 andthe shoulder 30, provided on the stem, which imparts the yielding pressure to the shoe. The shoe is connected to its shank 25 through the medium of insulation, (indicated at 32.) This shoe has at its ends the contact posts or terminals 33 33, to connection with which the wires 3i 34 are brought,these wires, as is under stood, being covered withinsulatf ing material, .and they may, in approaching t e vbinding-posts or terminals 33, have their running support thereto down on the aforesaid arms 20, or they may be brought to their connection with the shoe entirely independently of said arms.

I claimt l. In a third -rail electric-railway system, the combination with the track-rails and the top-slotted conduitJ of the cross-ties supported within the conduit above the base thereof, the trough t' of wood, mounted on said ties and longitudinally extending, the rail D set in the trough, and the filling of insulating material provided in the trough and covering the base and neck of the rail, theupper portion of said rail extending above said illingof insulating material which is downwardly and outwardly inclined from its junction with the exposed portion of the rail, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a third-rail electric-railway system, in combination, the track-rails B B and the underground top-slotted conduit O,of cement, comprising the inner wall thereof composed of a solidied insulating substance and molded with the rests or ledges g g, the wooden crossties h h, supported on said ledges' above the base of the conduit, the trought' of Wood havying its top edges downwardly and outwardly inclined, and the third-rail conductor supported in the trough and having its top portion extending higher than the side walls of said trough, the cement or concrete filling covering 'the base and neck of the rail having the upper portion thereof exposed, which filling together with said trough edges by being downwardly and outwardly inclined constitute a watershed and guard for the rail, substantially as described and'shown and for the purposes set forth.

3. In combination with a rail conductor, a trolley or shoe having terminals or bindingposts, a holder-plate for the shoe, on which the same is vertically yieldingly supported, arms for the holder-plate, whereby the same maybe supported from the motor car or truck, and wires running to connection with the binding-posts of the shoe, independent of the holder-plate and its supporting-arms, substantially as described.

4. In combination with the third-rail con-' ductor of the shoe 24, having the squared shank 25, and stem 25, and having the connection-posts or terminals, the arms 20,and holder-plate 23, having the pillars 26 and'top plate 27, the squared shank of the shoe playing through a socket therefor in the holderplate and having'its stem guided through the top plate, the spring 29, between the top plate and said collar, and an independent current-- conductor running to one of said connectionposts, substantially as described.

In testimony that Ivclaim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two'witnesses, this 13th day of August,

LOUIS E. VALKINS.

Witnesses:

WM. S. BELLoWs, J. M. BELLoWs.

IOO 

